Significant shift in targeting amid 67 percent rise in air raids - December 2017
December 2017 saw a significant shift in targeting along with an uptick in the number of air raids in the Saudi coalition air campaign in Yemen.
The Yemen Data Project recorded more than twice as many Saudi coalition air raids targeting non-military sites (195) than military sites (77) in December. This change contrasts with the overall pattern of air raids since the start of the air campaign. From March 2015 to December 2017 almost one third of all targets (31%) were non-military and 38% military. In December, 36% of air raids targeted non-military sites with just 14% targeting military sites. In 50% of air raids in December the target category was categorised as unknown.
The end of 2017 also saw a spike in the number of air raids with 541 recorded by YDP in December 2017, up by 67% from the previous month and the highest number of bombings in a single month since January 2017.
Amongst this rise, air raids in Hudaydah increased almost four-fold with 61 air raids in the governorate compared to 17 in November 2017. This increase coincided with a new ground offensive - launched after the death of former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on 4 December - and territorial gains made by coalition-backed, anti-Houthi forces in Hudaydah governorate.
A total of 541 Saudi coalition air raids targeted Yemen in December, 218 more than in the previous month of November 2017 and 17% above the monthly average of 464 air raids per month since the Saudi-led air campaign began in March 2015. Air raids targeted 15 of Yemen's 22 governorates in December.
The highest number of air raids recorded in a single month remains September 2015, at 920.
In the sub-categories of targets in December 2017:
- 65 air raids targeted residential areas
- 25 targeted vehicles and buses
- 20 targeted farms
- 8 targeted markets
- 5 targeted schools
- 4 targeted social gatherings
- 3 targeted medical facilities
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December 2017
541 air raids
↑ 67% on November
↑ 17% above monthly average
Total air raids* 26 March 2015 to 31 December 2017: 15,760
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Breakdown of districts targeted
Sa'ada remained the most heavily targeted governorate in December 2017 with 149 air raids recorded. Razih was the most heavily bombed district in Sa'ada with 37 air raids.
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Breakdown of districts targeted
Sanaa governorate (outside of the capital city) was the second most heavily targeted governorate in December 2017 with 73 air raids. The contested district of Nihm being the most heavily bombed district in Sanaa with 53 air raids.
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Sub-categories of air raid targets
December 2017
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FOR MORE DETAILS AND COMMENT PLEASE CONTACT:
Iona Craig (UK) +447446598852 iona.craig@yemendataproject.org
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The Yemen Data Project is an independent, not-for-profit data collection project. For more on who we are and on the methodology of our data collection, please visit Yemen Data Project: www.yemendataproject.org
The full dataset collated by the Yemen Data Project of all airstrikes carried out from 26th March 2015 to 15th December 2017 is available to download here. An overview of that data is available here.
The Yemen Data Project's dataset is licenced under creative commons. You are therefore free to reuse the data but we ask that you please cite the Yemen Data Project and link back to the dataset.
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*Air raid refers to a single incident or air raid, which in turn may comprise multiple airstrikes. It is not possible to generate an average number of airstrikes per air raid as these vary greatly, from a couple of airstrikes up to several dozen per air raid. For example, in the case of a so-called 'double-tap' strike where first responders appear to be targeted by at least one follow up bombing this would be counted as one incident or, as calculated here, one air raid.
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